A Farewell With Cheers And Applause

VATICAN CITY — With the world he once mesmerized watching, Pope John Paul II was laid in a simple cypress coffin Friday and eulogized on the steps of St. Peter's Basilica in a grand funeral that drew millions of pilgrims and leaders from all corners of the Earth.

The Polish-born pontiff, whose death last Saturday ended the third-longest papacy in history, was buried in a marble crypt below the basilica, the place of rest for many of John Paul's predecessors through the ages.

During a two-hour, 40-minute ceremony of resplendent ritual and emotional homage, priests blessed the pope's remains and celebrated his life before an audience the coffin reflecting the political clout of the global elite and the simple admiration of common folk.

The funeral Mass was punctuated by cheers and applause. People in the crowd chanted "Saint! Saint!" and "John Paul!" German-born Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the powerful dean of the College of Cardinals and a close confidante of John Paul, led the service. He remembered the boy who became a man in Nazi-occupied Poland and the sharp intellect who chose the priesthood. "Today we bury his remains in the earth as a seed of immortality," Ratzinger said. "Our hearts are full of sadness, yet at the same time, of joyful hope and profound gratitude."

At the conclusion of the public portion of the ceremony, 12 white-gloved pallbearers lifted the wooden casket to their shoulders, strode to the massive portals of St. Peter's Basilica, then turned back toward the crowd to allow a final goodbye.

Inside the crypt, where public access was not granted, the coffin was sealed in red ribbon, encased in zinc and then placed in another wooden casket. It was buried in the ground, not in a sarcophagus as is tradition, per John Paul's wishes.

Ratzinger's homily was interrupted at least 10 times by applause, notably when he mentioned the pope's dedication to the young and his very public struggle with disability and death.

Ratzinger recalled one of the final appearances of the pope at his apartment window overlooking St. Peter's Square, on Easter Sunday, when he struggled mightily to bless the crowds below, but he was no longer able to speak. "We can be sure that our beloved pope is now at the window of the house of the Father, and he sees us and he blesses us," Ratzinger said.

Ratzinger's sermon focused on Jesus' words to Peter, the apostle who became the first pope. Jesus asks Peter to follow him and to care for his flock, essentially installing him at the front of the long line of men who would become maximum leaders of the Roman Catholic Church.

"Dost thou love me? In that case, feed my flock," Ratzinger quoted Jesus as telling Peter. And like Peter, Ratzinger said, Karol Wojtyla was called to tend the flock and has now returned to Christ.

Official delegations represented more than 70 countries, from Afghanistan to, controversially, Zimbabwe.

The humble and haughty, the powerful and penitent, European royalty, queens in black veils, Arab sheiks in flowing robes, Latin American presidents in business suits -- they sat in the front rows arrayed in the square. To the back, pilgrims, backpackers and the Roman faithful, young and old, jostled for space.

Also in attendance was a remarkable collection of rival faiths. Leaders of the Eastern Orthodox Church, senior Jewish rabbis and Muslim clerics joined representatives of every Christian denomination, testament to John Paul's ability to reach out across traditional lines of religious demarcation. It was one of the largest such gatherings in the West in modern times and rivaled some of the huge audiences the pope drew while alive.